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This Week is National Correctional Officers Week

YAPHANK, NY-- Suffolk County Sheriff Vincent F. DeMarco wants the public to know that the first week in May is National Correctional Officers Week. The week was designated by President Ronald Reagan on May 5, 1984, and since then it has been observed annually during the first full week of May. This year, the week runs from Sunday, May 3, to Saturday, May 9, 2015 and commenced with a wreath-laying ceremony at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C.

"Correction Officers face untold dangers throughout the year and they put their lives on the line every day they come to work. It is a stressful, demanding, and complex job. Not only must they maintain order within the correctional facilities, they must also help prepare offenders for reentry and life in our communities,” said Sheriff DeMarco.

The Sheriff’s Office employs 900 Correction Officers at its two correctional facilities. This month, the Office will hold its Annual Memorial Service and wreath-laying ceremony on Friday, May 22nd to honor seventy of Suffolk’s Correction Officers and Deputy Sheriffs who have died in service since 1887. The event, which will be held on the grounds of the Riverhead Correctional Facility at 11:00 am, is coordinated each year by the Suffolk County Correction Officers Association and the Suffolk County Deputy Sheriff’s Police Benevolent Association.